Obama cited several recent incidents of gun violence, including the the December 2012 school shooting in Connecticut and the April 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. He also brought up the shooting of a 15-year-old Chicago girl who was killed a week after participating in his inauguration ceremonies last month.

But Obama didn't go as far back as March 2005, when a young Red Lake man shot and killed nine people before taking his own life at a school on the reservation. Survivors of the shooting went to Connecticut in December to lend their support to that community.

"I know this is not the first time this country has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is different," Obama said. "Overwhelming majorities of Americans -- Americans who believe in the Second Amendment -- have come together around common-sense reform, like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun."